Order of Chaeronea by angiexvi

Reviewer: xFall3nang3lx

I was so excited to review this book because I am such a huge fan of historical fiction, so thank you angiexvi for asking me to review your book!!

Cover:
I like the connection the cover and the title have together, the Order of Chaeronea is a secret society that was founded by George Cecil Ives who believed that homosexuals would not be accepted by society and that they had to find a safe place where they could communicate and interact in secret, I noticed in the cover that the two men are pretty much in the middle of nowhere which I think really works seeing as the Order would be in a secret place, I honestly think this cover fits in very well with the time period.

Description:
I love the use of sarcasm in the line “the oh so ‘loyal’ Lennox dynasty. Also really well done on getting the apostrophe after Lucas right because people would usually put “Lucas’s” instead of “Lucas’” so really well done, you had me clinging on to every single word because it’s just so good, this is a really good description, I’m proud of you for that.

Storyline:
I really like how you’ve based your story on historical events that have actually happened, so far in the story I think it’s got  a really good plot, I love that it starts off with how Lucas got a invite to join the Order of Chaeronea, and how George may have other intentions in inviting him not just to help him express himself but to maybe see if he could be a potential lover, and that Orwin has a hatred for Lennox’s which is understandable after everything they did to his family line, because although it happened a long time ago, it’s still a part of the family lineage, and Orwin will apparently find a way to reduce his hate of them, and I don’t know if it’s in a good way or a bad way. Honestly this is such a good plot I’m really enjoying it so far!

Characters:
I really liked how you called your character profiles as “portraits” instead as that would’ve been how they were called in the time period. I am a massive massive fan in how realistically you’ve portrayed your characters in the Victorian era, as we know the Victorians are strict on etiquette and also care a great deal on reputation, and almost every character in the story has a shameful secret about them that nobody can know, for example for Lucas it would be the “crime” that he’s gay (which was looked down upon during the Victorian era) and for Julia it would be that she is pregnant with another man’s baby who isn’t her husband, also I really like how your side character George Cecil Ives is actually a real historical figure (I cannot wait to see more of him in the story) also I really appreciate the disclaimer that you put that the personality you gave him in your story is just your interpretation and that people shouldn’t believe that it’s a true representation of him (also it’s seriously funny that Julia’s birthday is on the same day as mine, what a coincidence).

Grammar/Spelling:
I couldn’t find any mistakes at all, so you did really good in this section. Also I got to say, good effort on trying to replicate the manner of how the speech would’ve been in the 19th century.

Engagement of the reader:
I can honestly say that this story is so good, there was never a dull moment, I also love the flashbacks of the memories of Lucas and Casper, because of course Lucas would be reminiscing about the good times that they had together as those were his happiest memories and honestly because you could never really move on and really all you can do is move on, I’ve actually also started reading “The Plan”, you’ve done justice to my one of my favourite genres, I was really happy to read it!!